Steel slag, a by-product of steel making, is produced during the separation of the molten steel from impurities in steel-making furnaces. The slag occurs as a molten liquid melt and is a complex solution of silicates and oxides that solidifies upon cooling.
Virtually all steel is now made in integrated steel plants using a version of the basic oxygen process or in specialty steel plants (mini-mills) using an electric arc furnace process. The open hearth furnace process is no longer used.
In the basic oxygen process, hot liquid blast furnace metal, scrap, and fluxes, which consist of lime (CaO) and dolomitic lime (CaO.MgO or "dolime"), are charged to a converter (furnace). A lance is lowered into the converter and high-pressure oxygen is injected. The oxygen combines with and removes the impurities in the charge. These impurities consist of carbon as gaseous carbon monoxide, and silicon, manganese, phosphorus and some iron as liquid oxides, which combine with lime and dolime to form the steel slag. At the end of the refining operation, the liquid steel is tapped (poured) into a ladle while the steel slag is retained in the vessel and subsequently tapped into a separate slag pot.
